Nobody's Man eBook

“You are the one person in the world,”
he said, “to whom I could tell nothing but the
truth. I could.”

They both heard the sound of footsteps in the hall.
Lady Jane, disturbed by the ominous note in Tallente’s
voice, rose also to her feet, glancing from him towards
the door, filled with some vague, inexplicable apprehension.
Tallente showed no fear, but it was plain that he
had nerved himself to face evil things. There
was something almost ludicrous in this denouement
to a situation which to both had seemed filled with
almost dramatic possibilities. The door was opened
by Parkins, the stout, discreet man servant, ushering
in the unkempt, ill-tailored, ungainly figure of James
Miller.

CHAPTER VIII

The newcomer had distinctly the best of the situation.
Tallente, who had expected a very different visitor,
was for the moment bereft of words. Lady Jane,
who, among her minor faults, was inclined to be a
supercilious person, with too great a regard for externals,
gazed upon this strange figure which had found its
way into her sanctum with an astonishment which kept
her also silent.

“Sorry to intrude,” Mr. Miller began,
with an affability which he meant to be reassuring.
“Mr. Tallente, will you introduce me to the lady?”

“I must apologize for this intrusion, Lady Jane,
and to you, Tallente, of course. Mr. Tallente
is naturally surprised to see me. He and I are
political opponents,” he confided, turning to
Jane.

Her surprise increased, if possible.

“Are you Mr. Miller, the Democrat M.P.?”
she asked,—­“the Mr. Miller who was
making those speeches at Hellesfield last week?”

“At your ladyship’s service,” he
replied, with a low bow. “I am afraid if
you are a friend of Mr. Tallente’s you must look
upon me as a very disagreeable person.”

“If the newspapers are to be believed, your
strategies up at Hellesfield scarcely give one an
exalted idea of your tactics,” she replied coldly.
“They all seem to agree that Mr. Tallente was
cheated out of his seat.”

The intruder smiled tolerantly. He glanced around
the room as though expecting to be asked to seat himself.
No invitation of the sort, however, was accorded him.
“All’s fair in love and politics, Lady
Jane,” he declared. “We Democrats
have our programme, and our motto is that those who
are not with us are against us. Mr. Tallente here
knew pretty well what he was up against.”

“On the contrary,” Tallente interrupted,
“one never knows what one is up against when
you are in the opposite camp, Miller. Would you
mind explaining why you have sought me out in this
singular fashion?”